1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to wind turbines and, more specifically, to a wind cone windmill on ship roaming the oceans to transform fluid kinetic energy into electricity that can be used to extract potable water from sea water and also used to separate oxygen and hydrogen from water and stored on board a ship for global distribution in addition to supply fuel cells to power the ship. Applications are scalable for land, land based vehicles, homes, factories and water crafts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other wind device designed for energy conversion. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 757,800 issued to Williams on Apr. 19, 1904.
Another patent was issued to Stanschus on May 7, 1912 as U.S. Pat. No. 1,025,428. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 1,345,022 was issued to Oliver on Jun. 29, 1920 and still yet another was issued on May 13, 1975 to Uzzell, Jr. as U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,750.
Another patent was issued to Sellman on Oct. 19, 1976 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,786. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,356 was issued to Murphy on Nov. 28, 1978. Another was issued to Blumberg et al. on Oct. 10, 1995 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,346 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 2, 1999 to Dahill as U.S. Pat. No. 5,977,649.
Another patent was issued to Fan on Jan. 3, 2006 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,839. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 7,176,584 was issued to Green on Feb. 13, 2007. Another was issued to DuHamel on Jul. 17, 2007 as U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,039 and still yet another was issued on May 6, 2008 to Calhoon as U.S. Pat. No. 7,368,828.
Another patent was issued to Hector, Sr. on Oct. 21, 1992 as European Patent Application No. EP0509127. Yet another German Patent No. DE19626380 was issued to Popescu on Jan. 8, 1998. Another was issued to Kramer on May 7, 1998 as German Patent No. DE19645415 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 8, 2006 to Birmingham as U.K. Patent No. GB2444557.
Additional Publications
US Dept of Energy—Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program. www.eere.energy.gov
Solar Powered Satellite Engine. By Franklin K. Chen Space Manufacturing 12, Proceedings of the 14th SSI/Princeton Conference May 6-9 1999.
In a wind-motor, a moving part having impact-surfaces, a casing inclosing said part, a nozzle connected with the casing and arranged to direct air-currents against said surfaces, a movable vane exposed to the air-currents, a plurality of generators operatively connected with the moving part, and means between the vane and generators for controlling the operation of the latter.
In a wind motor of the class described, a rotatable casing open at both ends, a shaft passing vertically through said casing and rotatable independently thereof, and a wind wheel mounted in the rear end portion of said casing and geared in connection with said shaft, the front end portion of said casing being provided with a bell-shaped extension having in the top and bottom and sides thereof, doors which are hinged to said casing, means for manipulating the bottom door to close the front end of said casing, and means for opening and closing the other doors, the bell-shaped extension at the rear end of said casing being also provided in the top thereof with a door which is hinged to the rear end of said casing and which is operated by the same means that operates the door in the bottom of the bell-shaped extension at the front end of said casing.
A wind regulated motor consisting of a horizontally supported tube mounted to be turnable about a vertical axis and having divergent inlet and exit ends, a shaft journaled centrally in the tube with a series of propellers fixed to it at intervals of its length and driven by the air blast passing through the tube, the divergent inlet mouth having openings around its sides and shutters hinged and connected to control the movements of the shutters, a governor driven by the propeller shaft, and connections by which variations in the speed of the shaft will be communicated to open or close the shutters and allow a proportionate amount of air to escape from the inlet funnel without entering the propeller tube.
A wind-powered energy producing device comprising a Venturi-shaped chamber mounted for rotation on a support, a rudder adapted to be acted upon by the wind to orient the openings of the chamber into the wind, and a fan positioned within the throat of the chamber to be acted upon by the wind entering the chamber, the fan being operatively connected to an energy producing device such as a generator or the like.
Wind motors which are propelled by the impact of the wind against the vanes of an impeller wheel, that have wind channeling devices that gather the wind from a large area and funnel it at increased density and pressure to apply multiplied impact against the impeller vanes.
An impeller having an axle with radial vanes is mounted within a housing. The housing includes a funnel to direct a large amount of wind into the impeller. Air fins on top of the housing maintain the funnel pointed into the wind. A flap upon the top of the housing will fold downward as the wind increases and this will raise a throttle valve at the throat of the funnel. In addition, the flap will close exhaust openings from the housing, also reducing the wind on the vanes. Two additional flaps act as pressure relief valves in the funnel which open to dump wind at excessive velocity. Furthermore, a leeward flap on the side of the funnel is blown out to an extended position at high winds which causes the housing to rotate upon its circular tracks to bring the funnel opening away from the wind. The air fins on top of the housing are blown down from the vertical position as the wind strikes the housing sideways. The housing is mounted upon a frame which extends horizontally outward from the housing. The frame is mounted by wheels upon concentric rails. Therefore, the housing can be maintained directly into moderate winds by rotating around upon the rails or high winds will cause the housing to rotate away from the wind. The large frame prevents the unit from blowing over.
An accelerator for a windmill structure as described which is a frustro-conical funnel-like device intended to direct a stream of wind therethrough onto the impeller of a windmill. As the wind passes through the device, it is constricted whereby the velocity increases and exits a throat-like outlet as a diverging jet impacting the impeller blades to thereby increase the kinetic energy available to be converted to mechanical or electrical energy by said windmill. The device of this invention can include a vane for maintaining the accelerator facing into the wind with the windmill, a mounting platform for either the accelerator or both accelerator and the windmill, and an internal configuration to said accelerator to impart a swirling spiral motion to the wind passing therethrough as it is constricted.
A system for collecting and channeling wind energy includes funnel-shaped wind collectors rotatably attached to elevated platforms for collecting wind streams at higher initial velocities. A fantail assembly rotates the inlet end of the funnel into the face of the wind. The funnel is slidably connected to a railing atop the platform to maintain the inlet of the funnel at a desired relationship with the wind stream as well as to preclude separation of the funnel from the platform. Wind entering the inlet of the funnel-shaped collector flows toward a reduced outlet end of the collector resulting in an increased velocity. The collected air is channeled through a tubular branch conduit and merged into a transmission conduit of equal diameter for delivery to a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly includes a nose rotor which compresses and directs air away from the central axis of rotation of a downstream propeller and onto the propeller blades at increased velocity for rotation of an attached drive shaft. Upon use of a plurality of wind collectors, the respective branch conduits are merged into the transmission conduit at spaced intervals therealong so as to increase the velocity of the air stream delivered to the transmission conduit and downstream transmission assembly.
A wind powered turbine has a conduit. A middle conduit portion is located between inlet and outlet conduit portions, having a main inlet and outlet of the conduit, respectively. A rotor having a shaft with blades extending therefrom is located in the middle conduit portion. The blades are located completely within the middle conduit portion. Preferably, a splitter is located in the inlet conduit portion to provide upper and lower sub-tunnels that both feed into the middle conduit portion. Upper and lower interior walls of the middle conduit portion have substantially circular plane shapes that are substantially centered at the rotational axis of the shaft. Upper and lower clearance gaps are located between the blades and the upper and lower interior walls, respectively. The main outlet is preferably higher than the main inlet. Preferably, a generator is located on each side of the conduit and rotatably coupled to the shaft.
A wind power apparatus utilizing an anchor which is rotatably fixed to a surface. A chute attaches to the anchor and is provided with a chamber. A restriction is located in the chamber to concentrate the wind within an annular are of the chute and direct it to a power generator. The power generator is then used to produce electricity, move an object, and the like.
This invention teaches an apparatus, method, means, and computer readable media to address the problem of the inconsistent, unreliable nature of wind, and in particular low-wind speeds, through utilizing a blower and/or startup assist to aid in turning an electricity generating electrical generator during periods of low-wind speed. This generator provides electrical power for an electrolyzer used to generate hydrogen gas from water. Some embodiments include wind speed and direction sensors and control programming and/or circuitry that tracks trends in direction and speed, and anticipate the need to move the direction of the wind-collecting funnel to best take wind into the funnel, and to provide a start-up assist to the wind-powered turbine at a wind speed that is lower than could start rotation of the turbine without assist, or to maintain rotation when the wind temporarily slows below the speed needed to maintain rotation.
A wind energy system comprising a queue of turbines housed in a horizontal air conduit. The inlet end of the conduit opens into a wind collector assembly, which preferably comprises in part downwardly extending earthen slope, such as a hillside or embankment. The wind collector assembly may include a pair of lateral collectors, such as sails, that flank the inlet end of the conduit. An upper collector, similar to a spinnaker, may be included above the shaft and between the flanking sails. The flanking sails preferably are retractable and may be hydraulically controlled. Thus, the wind collector assembly formed by the spinnaker above, the earthen slope below and the lateral sails flanking the inlet, serves to collect wind and channel it into the conduit. Generators coupled to the turbines are electrically connected to a power plant or to an alternate electrical facility on or off the grid.
A wind-driven apparatus for the conversion of kinetic energy in the form of wind to rotational mechanical energy. This apparatus incorporates a funnel (14) that directs wind against a collector (12) causing it to rotate. To prevent any backpressure in the funnel or against the collector, the area immediately downstream of the collector is free of any obstacle or channeling devices. To also prevent any backpressure from developing, a series of blow-through panels (36) form a part of the funnel which open upon the presence of high pressure—the greater the pressure, the greater the opening.
A wind-driven apparatus for the conversion of kinetic energy in the form of wind to rotational mechanical energy. This apparatus incorporates a funnel (14) that directs wind against a collector (12) causing it to rotate. To prevent any backpressure in the funnel or against the collector, the area immediately downstream of the collector is free of any obstacle or channeling devices. To also prevent any backpressure from developing, a series of blow-through panels (36) form a part of the funnel which open upon the presence of high pressure—the greater the pressure, the greater the opening.
The generator has a rotor or impeller (1), and a funnel-shaped nozzle-like sail (2) in front of it, to increase the intake area of the generator. The sail is maintained in inflated condition due to the angle of incidence between it and the wind flow. Anchoring cables (3) have varying anchoring points, which are used to change size, expansion, shape, and position of the sail during operation. The closed funnel-action of the sail is generated by the ground/water surface (4) on one side, and the air flow across it, which inflates the sail. The intermediate transitional areas (5) are technically sealed.
A wind turbine has a funnel shaped inlet 1 which directs the wind onto a rotor 2. The rotor 2 may have a vertical or horizontal axis. The rotor 2 may also be enclosed within a housing and arranged to drive an electric generator 4. Stationary guiding vanes may be provided to guide the wind onto the rotor 2. The wind turbine may be orientated with respect to the wind direction by a wind vane or by an electric motor.
While these wind turbines may be suitable for the purposes for which they were designed, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention, as hereinafter described.